


when the dust clears, there is only us

by Lhappyface



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Alya Césaire Knows, Awesome Nino Lahiffe, Bad Parent Gabriel Agreste, Badass Alya Césaire, F/M, Gabriel Agreste | Papillon | Hawk Moth Identity Reveal, Hot Mess Adrien Agreste, Identity Reveal, Lila Rossi's Lies Are Exposed, Nino Lahiffe Is So Done, Nino Lahiffe Knows, POV Alya Césaire, POV Nino Lahiffe, nino and alya trying their best to help their dumbass friends, there are 2 braincells in this group and they belong to nino and alya
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-21
Updated: 2020-11-21
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:15:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,412
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27661894
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lhappyface/pseuds/Lhappyface
Summary: Alya figured out that Marinette was Ladybug after she knocked out a bank robber and defused a hostage situation using nothing but a ping pong ball and a bandana.  Nino figured out that Adrien was Chat Noir when he rolled under a table and Chat Noir rolled out. A glass table.[A collection where Alya and Nino are helping their superhero BFFs]
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Alya Césaire, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Alya Césaire & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug & Nino Lahiffe, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Nino Lahiffe, Alya Césaire & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Alya Césaire & Nino Lahiffe, Alya Césaire/Nino Lahiffe
Comments: 43
Kudos: 464
Collections: Miraculous Stories





	when the dust clears, there is only us

Alya found out that Marinette was Ladybug after she knocked out a bank robber and defused a hostage situation using nothing but a ping pong ball and a bandana. 

The immediate first thing she did, of course, was freak out. The minute she had put it together, everything clicked in a way it hadn’t before. It was like her one small realization pushed everything else out into the open like a magic domino.

(And,  _ God,  _ she wished she could blame at least some of it on magic. But everytime she tried, her mind immediately went to Marinette telling her in that earnest way she always did that she  _ knew  _ Lila was lying about all of it, she just couldn’t prove it. And Alya had barely believed her. Oh, how she wished she could say that was because of magic.)

The next thing she did was make a plan. She obviously couldn’t tell anyone, and it would be too obvious if she suddenly stopped caring about finding Ladybug’s identity. Maybe instead she could subtly use the Ladyblog to suggest that it’s someone else? 

She also needed to make sure she didn’t, under any circumstances, get akumatized. Because if Hawk Moth could read her mind, or if she was under his influence and cried out “Mari!” instead of “Ladybug!”, then everything would go to shit.

After a solid hour spent doing nothing but thinking about this revelation, she stopped. She took a breath. Was this big? Yeah. Did it change things? Yeah. But was Marinette still the same girl who stayed up with her until 2 am to help her study for math? The same girl who spent her weekends volunteering? The same girl who helped everyone in class whenever they needed it, no matter what? Yeah. That hadn’t changed. Marinette was the same girl as before, Alya just knew the full extent of it now. As much as she wanted to tell Marinette she knew, she didn’t want Mari to freak out. Ladybug’s identity was one of Paris’s greatest secrets, up there with how Mr. Pigeon managed to get akumatized so often. If she told her best friend, she ran the risk of her freaking out and giving up Ladybug forever, and there was nothing she wanted less than that.

So overall, the plan was actually pretty simple. She needed to help Marinette - Ladybug! - whenever she could, and make sure she didn’t get akumatized. Doable. 

The next day, Alya spent some of the money that she had previously been saving on a box of Mari’s favorite pastries and some of the new fabrics she had mentioned wanting. Marinette was obviously confused, but at Alya’s insistence, she took the presents gratefully. It wouldn’t make up for Alya not being the kind of friend she should’ve been, but it was a step to alleviate her guilt.

  
  
  


Nino found out that Adrien was Chat Noir when he rolled under a table and Chat Noir rolled out. A  _ glass table. _

So Nino did what any reasonable person would do. He pretended his eyes had been closed the whole time and he hadn’t seen  _ his best friend turn into a superhero. _

He would deal with this later.

(He had to admit, being a magical superhero was a  _ way  _ better reason for Adrien’s sudden disappearances than anything he would have thought of.)

Later, he didn’t want to deal with it. 

He had  _ just  _ gotten used to his best friend being a mega-famous model with paparazzi accosting him every other minute. Now he had to deal with a secret superhero identity too?

He stopped. He breathed. Nino was used to help Adrien through situations. He was used to guiding his friend through social norms because his piece of shit dad never learned that fashion skills don’t equal parenting skills (not that Gabriel Agreste had either, if you asked Nino).

But anyone who watched Chat Noir fight knew that he hardly ever needed help, and Nino was 99% sure there would never be a situation in which he needed Nino’s guidance. Him and Ladybug were an unstoppable pair, so he obviously wasn’t needed there.

But as cool as Adrien was, the guy could use some common sense.

_ A glass table,  _ Nino thought hysterically. He was gonna scream.

So he would help from the sidelines. Chat Noir didn’t need Nino to keep him safe, but he did need some help keeping his secret. And Nino might not have incredible powers of destruction, but he did have a younger brother and years of experience keeping secrets from his parents

He’s got this. He just needs to help his friend - who is apparently also one of Paris’s most beloved people ever - from accidentally spilling his major secret to everyone through sheer lack of functioning brain cells.

_ Glass. Table. _

He ain’t got this.

  
  


Alya was going to murder Hawkmoth. If Lucky Charm wouldn’t make Ladybug a gun then for God’s sake, she was building her bestie a Glock with her own two hands _.  _ Because when she made this plan, she did not account for the fact that Hawkmoth decided to spontaneously release akuma’s super often.

There had been 10 this week alone - 2 of which were Mr. Pigeon, she was finding that guy a new hobby if it killed her - and she could see the mental toll it was having on her friend. It didn’t help that this was one of the busiest weeks of the year in terms of school. Alya was having a hard time and she didn’t even have any magical extracurriculars. 

So it wasn’t a huge surprise when upon being asked what she did for the project they needed to hand in today, her eyes widened before she adopted the most crushed look ever.

“I forgot to do it,” she said morosely. “It’s worth 20% of the grade, Alya. What do I  _ do?” _ She looked close to tears and Alya understood. She would be frustrated if she was Marinette too, especially since Mari had many positive qualities, but being good at physics wasn’t one of them.

Ms. Mendeliev was coming around and collecting the projects, and without thinking too much, Alya grabbed Marinette’s pen, erased her name from the top, and copied down Marinette’s. 

Marinette gaped at her, but before she could say anything, Ms. Mendeliev was already at their section.

She raised an eyebrow. “And yours, Ms. Césaire?” 

Alya shrugged. “Forgot. Sorry.” She could tell that their teacher didn’t believe her, but she kept walking in favor of collecting the other assignments.

“Alya!” Marinette hissed. “What was  _ that? _ ” 

Ah, right. Marinette was going to feel bad, wasn’t she.

“Look, Mari, your study sets are the only reason I’m doing so well in this class, and my grade can afford it more than yours. You don’t deserve to get a bad grade because of this.”

Marinette stared at her in complete shock before wrapping her up in a hug.

“Don’t do that again!” she admonished. Her tone then softened, “But thank you, Alya, I don’t know what I did to deserve you. You’re the best friend I could hope for.”

_ I’m really not,  _ thought Alya.  _ I didn’t believe you. _

But all she said instead was “Don’t worry, girl. But I mean, if you wanna give me some of those cookies that you made, well I wouldn’t be opposed.”

Marinette giggled. “Deal!”

(Later, Ms. Mendeliev figured out what had happened between the two, and after the lecture she gave Alya on academic honesty and not submitting your work for other people, she softened and let Alya redo the project for partial credit. Marinette brought her cupcakes the next day.)

  
  
  


Nino was pretty sure that Marinette knew that Adrien was Chat Noir. And if she didn’t, she was way too close to figuring it out for Nino’s comfort. 

After all, everytime Adrien snuck away to go protect Paris, Marinette did too. Marinette looked away everytime Ladybug and Chat Noir came up in conversation, no doubt thinking about their secret identities. Marinette was the nicest, most helpful person he knew, but she could get straight up  _ scary  _ when focused, and he didn’t want to deal with that.

And honestly, he was also kind of worried about Alya. Because his girlfriend was smart, and he knew that Adrien’s Magic Bag of Ridiculousness wasn't going to fool her for much longer. He could already tell that she had picked up on something, and knowing her, it would be something bad for the well-being of secret identities.

So when an akuma alert was announced and Adrien and Marinette both announced their need to go to the locker room, Nino followed, ready to distract Marinette and help his bro.

He didn’t expect Alya to follow. He probably should have, knowing her, but it didn’t change things.

All he needed to do was distract Marinette and Alya from finding out Adrien’s secret. Simple.

The 4 of them made their way towards the locker room, and he could see the anxiety on Adrien’s face, likely about trying to find a place to transform.

But before Nino could say anything to help, Marinette spoke up.

“U-um, guys, I just realized that I forgot something! Yeah, I left something in the uhh English classroom! So I’m going to go get it.” Before anyone could say anything else, Marinette sped away in the opposite direction of the English classroom.

_ So she’s obviously onto us,  _ Nino thought.  _ She probably just realized that Adrien won’t transform if she’s there. _

Nino thought he saw Alya relax off on the side, but that didn’t sound right. If she was trying to unmask Adrien, wouldn’t he want Marinette with her?

Whatever. For now, he just needed to get Alya away from Adrien, and then leave himself so that Adrien could transform in peace. 

His train of thoughts was interrupted by a loud crash outside, and he watched through a window as Ladybug zipped around the akuma, screaming things that couldn’t be heard over the sound of panic.

Adrien stiffened before abruptly pointing to the bathroom they were in front of and saying “Actually, guys, I need to use the bathroom!” and running in.

_ He can’t be serious. _

“Ok, babe, we should get to safety,” he said, pulling on his girlfriend’s arm. 

“No,” she said. “We need to wait for Adrien so we can make sure he’s safe.”

Nino paused. That didn’t seem like something she would say if she suspected Adrien. Did she not know? Then why was she acting different?

He was pulled from his thoughts when the bathroom door opened with a bang and  _ Chat Noir ran out.  _ Nino resisted the urge to cover his face with his hands.

“Oh, hey you two should get to safety!” Chat Noir said, oblivious to their twin expressions of shock. “Oh yeah, I saw your friend Adrien in there, he went out the window.” He made a motion with his hand signaling them to go before running off towards the fight.

Nino stared at the space where Adrien had been in shock. He loved the guy but this was worse than he anticipated. 

_ There isn’t even a window in that bathroom. _

Alya stared. “Adrien?” she asked, looking for confirmation, her voice almost pained. Nino paused.

“Wait, babe, you didn’t know? Then why are you here?” 

Alya shook her head slowly and her wide eyes met his. “Marinette,” she informed him somberly.

Nino’s brain shut down for a moment before he put it all together.

“Well, fuck.”

  
  
  


The whole ‘don’t get akumatized’ part of the plan was proving to be the hardest, considering that everytime Lila Rossi opened her goddamn mouth Alya wanted to rock her shit supervillain style.

The blatant lie of the day was apparently the fact that Chat Noir had come into her house last night and they had talked for  _ hours,  _ but  _ of course  _ she couldn’t tell anyone about what they talked about because it was “secret superhero business”. Right.

She knew for a fact that Adrien Agreste had spent the night playing video games virtually with Nino, and even if she didn’t, one look at the sad puppy (or kitty?) look on his face told her everything she needed to know.

And Alya Césaire was a lot of things, but she wasn’t the kind of girl who let her friends be sad and do nothing about it.

“Lila, I think you must be  _ super  _ confused, girl,” Alya said innocently. “Because Chat Noir came to  _ my house  _ last night. I told you about it earlier, remember?”

The class looked between the two of them, confused. Lila narrowed her eyes. “You didn’t tell me anything. Besides, what would you and Chat Noir even talk about?”

Alya could see Adrien’s confused look in her periphery but she ignored it in favor of plastering on the most exasperated look she could. “Ladybug. We both adore her and everything she does, and he follows the Ladyblog,” she said, trying to infuse the tone of  _ obviously  _ into her words. “What did  _ you  _ guys talk about?”

Lila sputtered and galked before saying, “That’s obviously classified!”

Alya was sure that it was going to end with this standstill until Nino said “Isn’t Chat Noir doing that press thing today with Ladybug? Can’t you just ask him in front of the class who he spent time with? He’s a superhero, I’m sure he wouldn’t lie.” 

Lila’s eyes were comically wide at this point. “He wouldn’t be able to say! It’s classified, remember?” she refuted frantically. Her tone hasn’t been noticed by most people, but Alya could see Chloe’s eyes narrow.

“Wait,” Chloe interjected, her haughty tone cutting through the confusion with a precise kind of power. “If Chat Noir can’t talk about it, then why could you?” It’s obvious to anyone who is looking that Lila doesn’t have a response to that, so Chloe continued. “I think we should ask him. If you were allowed to say it, I’m sure he can too.”

“That’s a great plan!” Adrien said cheerfully, and oooh, shit, Alya had forgotten about the fire in that guy. “You’re new Lila, so you don’t know, but Chat Noir never lies, like ever.”

Lila doesn’t get a chance to respond, because the teacher comes through the door at that moment and reminds them all to get in their seats.

Later that day, it’s Kim who does the honors.    
“Chat Noir! Chat Noir!” he yelled, catching the attention of the superhero. The moment he had it, he didn’t waste a moment before yelling. “Did you spend time last night with Lila Rossi?”

Alya could see the tension in Lila’s face and she internally smirked.

“No?” Chat Noir said, and it was way too easy for Alya to forget that their sunshine and smiles Adrien was the same guy who snuck his way into public school for the first time. That guy was no pushover. 

“I spent some time with Alya, though! We both talked about how much we liked Ladybug, and she told me some stuff about the Ladyblog and her theories!” Chat Noir said cheerfully, doing an incredible job of faking obliviousness. “Why?”

“No reason!” Chloe chirped, always happy to see someone she didn’t like fall from grace. “We were just curious!” 

Chat Noir shrugged, seemingly not pressing the issue. “Alright, curiosity is one of the finest feline traits.” With that, he left, leaping across rooftops towards the horde of reporters who were currently talking to Ladybug.

The class collectively turned to Lila, who looked like a deer in headlights. Well, that was inaccurate. Alya had always felt bad for deer in headlights, but Alya didn’t feel even the slightest bit of pity towards Lila.

“Why would you lie, Lila?” Rose asked. “Did you take Alya’s story and use it for yourself?”

“Not cool, man,” Kim told her.

“I- I just wanted you guys to like me!” Lila said. Alya resisted the urge to scoff.

“This isn’t the first time you’ve lied like this,” Juleka said. “It does make it kind of hard to believe you.” 

Lila’s face contorted in a mix of rage and shock. “You’ve got to be kidding me! Alya is playing you! I don’t know how she got Chat Noir involved, but Marinette has manipulated her into this.”

_ Oh hell nah, girl.  _

But before she could say anything, Max interjected with “Don’t be ridiculous, Lila, Marinette is the kindest, least manipulative person I know. Even Markov agrees that the likelihood of her manipulating someone, especially someone she cares about, is abysmally low.” 

“Yeah, Lila, don’t be ridiculous, Marinette would never do that,” said Ivan.

“She’s super nice!” Rose said. “And we’ve known her for forever!”

“I doubt that Marinette is smart enough to manipulate Alya into doing her bidding,” Chloe said, and Alya wasn’t really sure if she was happy about that remark, but she could let it slide for now.

“Whatever! You guys are being yanked around by a chain, and when you guys are ready to admit it, then you can come hang with me!” And with that, Lila walked away, trying to conceal the fact that she was running from the weight of her misdemeanors coming back to bite her.

Alya turned away from her classmates so that they wouldn’t see her satisfied smile, and she watched with pleasure as Lila threw a glare at her over her shoulder.

  
  
  


There was an akuma, and Nino was starting to understand that Marinette and Adrien’s plans for leaving class to transform pretty much boiled down to Try Stuff Until Something Works.

For example, right now, Marinette and Adrien had both announced their need to leave almost moments after an akuma attack was called.

Unfortunately for them, their school had finally started putting some precautions in place.

“I’m sorry, you two,” Ms. Bustier said to them. “But there’s an akuma and we need to stay inside the classroom unless there’s an emergency.”

Nino watched as both Adrien and Marinette slumped in their seats, cringing everytime a noise could be heard from outside. The anxiety was practically plainly on their faces and he internally sighed.

_ Alright, Lahiffe, time to do this.  _

He promptly collapsed dramatically into Adrien’s arms.

Adrien, having years of experience as a superhero and as a model doing dramatic photoshoots, caught him immediately without thinking.

_ Huh, Adrien’s way stronger than I thought he would be. _

“Oh no!” he cried. “I have contracted a terrible case of bird flu! I think that some people should take me to the nurse!”

Ms. Bustier’s eyes narrowed but before she could say anything, Nino locked eyes with Alya. 

_ Back me up, babe. _

“Ohmygod, bird flu? You should go to the nurse like right now,” Alya said. “Hey, Adrien and Marinette are both done with the worksheet, they can take you!”

“I grow weaker every hour!” Nino said, laying a hand on his forehead.

Ms. Bustier’s eyes narrowed. “Bird...flu?”

Adrien gave her an award-winning smile, clearly not understanding what was going on but acknowledging it was working in his favor. “It’s okay, Ms. Bustier, Marinette and I will be careful, and we are done with the worksheet.”

Ms. Bustier still wasn’t convinced, and Nino frantically thought of a way to convince her when Alix spoke up.

“Bird flu?! Nino, you need to go to the nurse’s office! I’ve heard about bird flu!”

And with that, Alix was rushing over and helping Adrien carry him out the door, Marinette following behind. Ms. Bustier, having acknowledged that she wasn’t going to be able to do anything about this, merely watched as they left the classroom.

As soon as they stepped outside, Nino lifted himself out of Adrien’s arms and stood up straight.

“You know what, guys, I think I’m fine, actually! I can make it the rest of the way myself, you can go now.”

Adrien and Marinette looked at him with twin expressions of concern. “Are you sure?” Adrien asked.

Nino nodded. “I’m fine, don’t worry! Alix can help me the rest of the way, I’ve got this.”

Marinette was still concerned, but the noise of cackling from the akuma filled the air. “Alright, I need to go grab something-”

“Me too!”

“So I’ll see you later! Be safe!”

With that, the two of them ran towards the fight, already shifting into battle stances as they searched for private places to transform.

Nino turned to face Alix, suspicious. But he was beat to saying something when she said “So...why did you do that?”

He shrugged. “Personal reasons. How about you?”

She smiled. “Chaos.”

Yeah, that made sense.

  
  
  


Alya didn’t know Marinette did it, because she was starting to realize that when she didn’t have the comfort of Rena Rouge, akumas were  _ super scary.  _

She should have done something when she saw the angry blonde woman scream relentless insults at the poor cashier, but she had convinced herself it would be fine. People in the service industry get yelled at all the time, so it would be fine.

It wasn’t fine.

Alya ducked under a table in an attempt to escape the wrath of the akuma whose name she had been too scared to learn. She watched in horror as the supervillain launched tomatoes at people, effectively freezing them in place.

_ Alright, think. The akuma can’t hurt you if it can’t hit you and you need to buy time for Ladybug and Chat Noir. If you can, try to find out where the akuma is located, and continue from there. _

With that, she grabbed a large serving tray and a pizza cutter off of one of the tables and brandished them like a sword and shield.

“Oi! Over here! Come and get me!” she screamed, lifting the tray to cover as much of her as she could whilst running at the akuma.

Her family was watching in horror but she tuned them out. Working as Rena Rouge and spending hours upon hours analyzing various fights for the Ladyblog had given her valuable knowledge in terms of learning how to fight akumas, not that she ever thought she would need to know this as a civilian. 

She pulled her shield close to her and ducked and dodged some more of the weaponized fruits. She batted another aside with her pizza cutter. Since nothing happened to the pizza cutter or the shield, that meant that the tomatoes only impacted living things.

_ Well,  _ she thought as she hid to get away from the assault. She needed to catch her breath.  _ That info isn’t going to help me considering I’m a living thing and I have no idea what the object is. Okay, think. Where would it be? _

Alya ran her eyes across the supervillain, looking for something that had been there from before. 

_ There. The nametag.  _

Alya wasn’t really sure what to do with that information since she couldn’t purify it, but maybe she could grab it?

With that thought in mind, she hoisted up her shield and charged. Time slowed as she slammed her platter into the akuma and in one fluid motion, grabbed the nametag.

The cashier screeched in anger and made a frantic grab for it, but Alya was already running. In a moment of perfect timing, Ladybug and Chat Noir crashed through what used to be the door to the restaurant.

“Ladybug! Catch!” she yelled, throwing the name tag over to her friend.

Ladybug caught it immediately and without pausing, cracked it in half. Out came a dark butterfly, fluttering its wings slowly. It took less than a minute for Ladybug to purify the akuma and call Miraculous Ladybug, and she turned to Alya once everything was put right.

Alya had to make a conscious effort not to react to how weird it was to see her friend be so different yet so similar under that mask. She has to make sure she reacts how she would if she didn’t know who it was under that suit.

“That was great work, you really helped us out!” Ladybug said, smiling at her, and Alya had to do everything she could not to scream at the absurdity of the situation.

“Well I feel  _ purr _ fectly useless, m’lady,” Chat Noir said, mock-pouting. 

Alya did her best to plaster on a smile and launch into the usual talk about Ladyblog things that she usually did when meeting Ladybug, but she felt disingenuous.

Luckily for her, her parents came and grabbed her, a lecture at the ready about staying safe during an akuma attack. With a wave to Chat Noir and Ladybug, she settled in to listen to her parents, but she couldn’t make herself regret it.

  
  
  


Nino had no idea where Adrien’s ring was, but he was worried.

Because aside from being Chat Noir’s piece of awesome magic jewelry, Adrien used his ring like an emotional support item. When he was nervous or freaking out, he fiddled with it, twisted it gently back and forth to calm himself down.

It came as a surprise to no one that he was more agitated without it. Even Chloe - who didn’t have a single emotionally adept cell in her body - noticed something was wrong. All day, everyone had been doing their best to keep him comfortable, but Nino and Alya were the only ones who truly knew what was wrong. 

So, like any good friends, they confronted him about it at lunch. The 4 of them were eating pastries in the courtyard and glowing happily in the sunlight when Nino popped the question.

“So, dude, where’s the ring? Noticed you didn’t have it.” Nino looked over at Adrien just in time to catch the look of - was that  _ shame? _

“Oh, um, nothing major, but my father took it last night. He said it wasn’t appropriate for me to be fiddling with it constantly, so he took it away until I learned how to operate without it.”

Well, now Nino knew why murder existed. He was generally a pretty peaceful guy, but he was  _ seeing fucking red.  _

(Out of the corner of his eye he watched Marinette shoo away an akuma using chopsticks and knew he had to calm himself down.)

“Don’t be mad!” Adrien rushed to inform him, looking worried. “Father was right, I shouldn’t need to fiddle with it. It’s not good for me to lean on it.” 

“That doesn’t mean he should take it away!” Marinette said, outraged.

Nino didn’t miss the way Adrien drew back slightly before saying “Sometimes it’s good to be thrown into the deep end.”

“Not like that, Adrien,” Alya said. “You should tell someone.”

Adrien looked at her, confused. “Father didn’t do anything wrong! Yeah I want my ring back, but there isn’t anyone I could tell.”

And Nino will be having none of that. 

“You should tell Ladybug,” he said, perhaps a bit too loud and pointed. But hey, better safe than sorry. “She would do something.”

Adrien looked surprised and tried to interject “But I-”

“You know what,” Alya said, catching on immediately. “I don’t think you would even need to tell her. Ladybug knows all. One of the most popular theories on the Ladyblog Forum is that all the ladybugs you see everywhere are her spies.”

Nino knows for a fact that that rumor was spread by Alya using a different account, but he isn’t going to say anything.

Adrien looks like he’s about to say something when Marinette says with a little too much passion “I think that Ladybug would totally get your ring back. You know what, I’m going to tell her. She’ll do something.”

It is truly a wonder how Marinette managed to keep this secret for so long.

“Guys,” Adrien says. “Father wasn’t trying to hurt me. You don’t need to tell Ladybug, she’ll think I’m weak.”

And isn’t that a whole bag of worms. “Look Adrien-” he starts.

“No, she wouldn’t!” Marinette cuts in with a surprising amount of indignation. “Ladybug would never think you’re weak for needing something like a ring to keep you happy. Ladybug cares about the citizens of Paris and their happiness, and I - she knows that emotional support is important, even if your father doesn’t.”

After a beat, Marinette seems to realize what she said and turns bright red. “I-I mean, not that, not, I didn’t-”

“Mari’s right,” Nino says before it can go any further. “Needing to fiddle with something doesn’t make you weak, and Ladybug would never think that. Besides, even if your father doesn’t have malicious intentions, he made you upset and hurt you, and unless you think you can talk to him and get the ring back, the only way we can keep you emotionally okay is if we tell Ladybug so she can get you your ring back.”

Nino suspects that if it weren’t for the fact that he needs the ring to protect Paris and doesn’t want to let Ladybug down, Adrien wouldn’t have agreed to let them help, but it gets them to the same result.

(The next day, Nino happily noted that Adrien’s ring was back on his finger where it belonged. Upon being asked, Adrien happily informed them that they were right - Ladybug had sent someone named “Multi Mouse” to help him. Nino wasn’t sure who that was - he could only make guesses based on the grateful smile Adrien sent Marinette - but he made the executive decision that he didn’t want to know.)

  
  
  


The dust has cleared. The fight is over. Hawkmoth lays unconscious at the feet of their heroes. Ladybug has already set the city back to normal, but all of Paris watches as Hawkmoth’s cover magically drips away. From beside her, Nino sucks in a sharp breath. She doesn’t understand why until she sees it.

Gabriel Agreste. 

She can practically  _ feel  _ Nino’s rage. Neither of them had been the guy’s biggest fans, Nino hated him more than anyone she had ever met, but this? The knowledge that he had secretly been trying to kill two teenagers? Had been willing to let Paris burn?

The knowledge that he had been willing to kill  _ his son. _

(She wonders if he would have still done what he did had he known who was behind that mask. Then she stops and thinks about everything she’s seen of Gabriel and Adrien’s relationship, and decides she doesn’t want to know.)

It’s too much. So she ignores it. She focuses on what’s important. Both Chat Noir and Ladybug’s jewelry let out loud, frantic beeps, but Chat Noir - Adrien - is frozen in place. From beside him, Ladybug has noticed something is up, and she doesn’t seem inclined to leave without him. Marinette might not know what Alya does, but if there’s one thing she’s good at, it’s helping people when they need it.

So all of Paris watches as she leans over and grabs Adrien’s hand. She holds it tight and looks him in the eye and Alya is scared that he might start crying.

They stay like that, oblivious to all of Paris waiting with bated breath, and then the beeping stops. Their guises melt away to reveal what Alya and Nino have known for so long.

For a moment, everything is quiet. The tension is palpable in the air and Alya can only watch helplessly as Adrien and Marinette stand in front of their greatest enemy, completely still. 

A tear rolls down Adrien’s cheek, and the sight of it makes Alya feel like she’s been doused with water. Her friend is hurting, and she’s just standing there. Before she can think about it, she cups her hands around her mouth and yells, voice cutting through the silence like a knife.

“Let’s go, Ladybug! You’re my hero!”

For a moment, the only thing that happens is Marinette turns, confused and grateful all at once. No one else speaks until Nino cries “Thank you, Chat Noir! You saved us!”

The tension breaks like a dam until suddenly everyone in the audience is yelling. 

“Wooo! You did it! You protected us!”

“Thank you, Ladybug and Chat Noir!” 

“You did it! You saved us!” 

The crowd is full of nothing but cheering and Alya can see the effect it’s having on Adrien. He stands up straighter and pulls himself from his reverie. He locks eyes with Marinette and gives her a soft, watery smile. 

The two of them, Marinette and Adrien, Alya and Nino’s best friend’s, the greatest heroes Paris has ever had, turn to the crowd. 

And in one triumphant motion, they raise their intertwined hand in victory to the cheers of the people.

**Author's Note:**

> adrien: hell yeah im so good keeping my identity secret !! :D  
> nino: *anguished screeching*
> 
> thanks for reading!!


End file.
